David Booth hasn’t exactly gotten off to the most roaring start with his new team since he was traded to the west coast on October 22nd. Booth started the year in Florida notching 1 assist in 7 games, while playing on the third line. Not great numbers, but those were expected to change in Vancouver where he would get a chance to play with better players in a more prominent role.

Booth has 2 goals and 5 assists in his first 12 games with the Canucks. Those numbers are average, but when we dig a little bit deeper, they’re less impressive. One of his goals was into an empty net. Of his 5 assists, three of them were of the phantom variety (ie. second assists where he had very little to do with the scoring play).

What’s worse with Booth is that he doesn’t appear to be much of a physical presence, despite his size (6’0″, 212 lbs). He also doesn’t appear to see the ice well. For the moment, Booth is back on the second line with Ryan Kesler and Chris Higgins, but I think that’s more out of hope than merit. The ‘American Express’ line has a great nickname, but they haven’t shown a lot of promise together.

Booth is still early into his tenure with the Canucks, so there is a lot of time for him to gel with his teammates and improve his play, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned. If Booth, along with Keith Ballard, don’t improve considerably Florida Panthers GM Dale Tallon will come off looking like a genius. In just over one calendar year, Tallon has offloaded two overpaid hockey players, as judged by their play this year and last. Both players have three years remaining on their contract, at over $4 million each.

It’s still early and Booth has a chance to turn it around, but I’m starting to lose hope that he’ll become the perfect fit on the Canucks second line. For the moment he appears destined to be a bigger version of Mason Raymond. I hope I’m wrong.

With all the hoopla surrounding the Aaron Rome hit (and the subsequent suspension) on Nathan Horton, a few stories have been overshadowed. Everyone has had a chance to hash it out by now, so it’s time to move on to the big stories heading into game 4.

1. The Power Play

Heading into this series, one of the main storylines was the power play matchup. The Canucks had one of the best power plays, while the Bruins had one of the worst. Fast forward to now, and the Canucks have struggled mightily on the power play, while the Bruins haven’t been bad. The Canucks are a woeful 1-for-16 while the Bruins are 3-for-13.

Vancouver will need to turn their power play around if they want to win this series, and they’ll likely need to make adjustments. At the moment the Canucks are having a terrible time trying to enter the zone and get possession. The Bruins have been extremely aggressive on the penalty kill and that has caused problems for the Canucks.

2. Hooking, Slashing and Cross-checking

Once upon a time not long ago, hooking, slashing and cross-checking were considered penalties. In game 3, they were not. Not since the mid 1990s have I seen that much stick work let go in a game. Ryan Kesler was getting absolutely hacked and whacked by Zdeno Chara during a Canucks power play in game 3. If that standard is allowed to continue, it’s advantage Bruins.

3. Playing with the Lead

Despite the 2-1 series lead, the Canucks have hardly played with the lead in this series. They had the lead for only 19 seconds in game 1, 16:48 in game 2 and never had the lead in game 3. Meanwhile, the Bruins had the lead for 20:37 in game 2 and 39:49 in game 3. If the Canucks can get an early goal in game 4, it will allow them to play with the lead, and they’re a better team when they’re playing with the lead.

With the NHL Christmas break upon us, perhaps now would be a good time to review the Canucks’ season up to this point. Or perhaps now would be a good time to look at what players the Canucks might want to acquire as they make a push towards the playoffs. Right? Well, instead, lets look at those funny green men at the Canucks’ who distracted Shea Weber, Dave Scatchard and any other Predator that found his way in the penalty box last game. Enjoy!

That’s the funniest thing I’ve seen at GM Place since this:

This was pretty funny too:

That was a bigger buzz kill than Buzz Killington:

Update from Sean Ovariez: Green Man is a character from the show “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia!” Well, it’s actually just one of the characters from the show (Charlie) who dresses up in a green outfit every now and then because he’s probably half retarded. Anyways, the show is pure genius! Go watch it (I’m talking to you Davey D)!

Oh, and just in case you wanted to be Green Man too.. You can purchase the costume here!

So with news of Tiger taking a hiatus from golf because everyone and their daughter has “transgressed” with him, I had a random thought.. If anything remotely like this happened to an NHL star, would anyone (outside of hardcore hockey fans) give a flying crap? What would it take for the mainstream media, and more importantly the National Enquirers and TMZes of the world, to take notice and publish an article or two?

Well, here’s a quick short list of NHL stars and what/who I think they’d have to do to get noticed:

• 1) Alexander Ovechkin – making Kournikova (where the heck is she?) and Sharapova his bitches.. and prancing them around with him
• 2) Sidney Crosby – caught lip-locking with Daniel Radcliffe. Harry Potter sucks and so does Crosby.
• 3) Evgeni Malkin – caught lip-locking with Emma Watson. At least she’s now legal.
• 4) Sedin Twins – dating each other.
• 5) Joe Thornton – having an affair with Kristy Yamaguchi.

Got a good one? Leave a comment and add to the list! The NHL needs more scandal and pub!!

Brian Burke’s still a douche but he seems like a good enough father. Good for Brendan Burke too.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=buccigross_john&id=4685761

These kinda ESPN articles are usually pretty good. If you’re a sports fan, you need to read the “Outside the Lines” series.

The Canucks reduced their roster to 29 players today. Among the players sent down to Manitoba were Cory Schneider and Michael Grabner. Very disappointing for both players, considering that Schneider’s competition for the backup job was not very stiff (Andrew Raycroft) and two forward spots opened up with injuries to Pavol Demitra and Jannik Hansen. Hansen broke his hand last night in a fight with Gilbert Brule. For the first time, the word “bust” is being whispered about Grabner. Grabner is the only player taken in the top 18 of the 2006 draft that has yet to play his first NHL game. While it’s disappointing for Schneider also, it’s premature to call him a bust, as goalies typically develop slower than forwards.

So who will be on the opening night roster? Well, of the 29 players remaining, three will be on injured reserve (Demitra, Hansen and Schneider). So that leaves 26 players, meaning that three more players will have to be sent to Manitoba, or in Cody Hodgson’s case, Brampton. Michael Funk and Lawrence Nycholat are virtual guarantees to be sent to Manitoba. Top candidates to be cut include: Cody Hodgson or Tanner Glass. Glass has been a pleasant surprise in the preseason, providing a lot of grit and even the odd goal. I believe the team will want to keep Aaron Rome (at least until Mathieu Schneider returns) and Sergei Shirokov after their impressive preseasons. If they decide to keep Hodgson, it will not be because of his play in the preseason. It will be because they believe he was hampered by his injured back and will keep him with the big club to sit in the press box for the most part. I believe that would be a mistake. The kid simply isn’t ready yet. Don’t buy the argument that “there’s nothing more that he can accomplish in junior” that has been popular lately. He had an excellent season last year in junior, but it was by no means the most dominant season in OHL history, nor did his team win a Memorial Cup. Any junior-aged player that can’t play at the NHL level can still accomplish something in junior. This is not to suggest that Manitoba isn’t the best place for him. It would be nice if the NHL could have some sort of exception for players in Hodgson’s position (three years of major junior and a first round pick).

And now in case you missed how Jannik Hansen broke his hand…

Every Tuesday, Canuckz.com profiles a Canadian sportscaster. Sometimes they’re sportscasters we like, sometimes they’re ones we don’t. Today’s sportscaster is one that you either absolutely love or absolutely hate: Pierre McGuire. What do we think? Well, lets think about that for a minute…

Pierre McGuire has many different roles.  He works for TSN and NBC, and is also a regular guest on the Team 1040. He’s an in-studio analyst, a colour commentator in the booth, and an ice-level commentator. My biggest problem and his biggest attribute is his excitement level. Let me explain. As a colour commentator in-game, he gets WAY too excited about the fine details of the game. He can get more excited about a chip off the boards than some announcers get after a goal. He needs to pick and choose his moments and I think 2.5 hours of him in a game can get a bit much.

Now Pierre McGuire the in-studio analyst or on-air radio guest is a much different story. He’s obviously well tapped-in to many sources, so he’s well informed about the ins and outs of the league. He also gets a chance to calm down a little, and focus his thoughts in a smaller time frame. In that format, he’s great. Just don’t give me 2.5 hours of him.

BAD McGuire:

GOOD McGuire:

Mike Gillis had a busy day on Friday, signing Mathieu Schneider and acquiring Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich in exchange for Daniel Rahimi and Canuckz.com favourite, Patrick White (that was sarcasm by the way). Lets take an in-depth look at everyone they acquired and everyone they let go:

Who did they let go?

Patrick White

Drafted in the first round in 2007 by former GM Dave Nonis, White appears destined to be yet another first round bust. The Canucks went off the board a bit to take him (he was projected to go in the 2nd round), and it looks like a mistake. In two years with the University of Minnesota, White has 26 points in 81 games. Last season he finished 10th in scoring on his team. If White turns out to be an NHL player, it’ll be a shock, if he turns into a star, it’ll be a miracle.

Daniel Rahimi

A third round pick from the 2006 draft, Rahimi hasn’t shown much promise. He hasn’t been exactly knocking on the door fighting for an NHL spot, and was probably let go because they don’t see him making much of an impact in his career.

Who did they acquire?

Christian Ehrhoff

Ehrhoff was the key to the deal with the Sharks. The smooth skating 27 year old German has been a consistent point producer over the last four seasons. He’s a “puck moving defenceman”, and excels on the power play. The Sharks got rid of him to shed salary, even though he has a pretty fair deal, paying him $3.1 million per season for the next two years.

Brad Lukowich

Brad Lukowich will bring experience, dependability and two Stanley Cup Rings to the Canucks blue line. He has one year left on his deal with a cap hit of $1.567 million. Not bad for a guy with his experience who is still only 32 years old. He’s also a BC boy.

Mathieu Schneider

Old man Schneider is now 40 years old, but he had a very productive season last year. Once re-acquired by Montreal, he kick-started their power play until getting injured. That’s the key with Schneider, how much gas does he have left in the tank, and can he stay healthy? Time will tell. Still a good signing, as it’s low risk (a one year deal worth reportedly $1.5 million) and potentially high reward. Schneider is a proven power play specialist, something the Canucks desperately needed. He also has a Stanley Cup ring, which now gives the Canucks three players on their roster that have won a Stanley Cup. I can’t remember the last time the Canucks were able to say that.

What now?

So what’s next? The Canucks now possess 8 NHL d-men making more than $1.5 million and 14 NHL calibre forwards. They’re also over the salary cap. This means that someone has to go, and probably a defenceman. You can’t have two defencemen sitting in the press box making more than $1.5 million a season. So who is on the way out? Some were speculating Bieksa on the radio Friday afternoon, but I can’t see Gillis getting rid of a guy like that. It remains to be seen who goes, but don’t count out Gillis asking Mitchell or Salo to waive their no-trade clauses.

Meet “THE GERMANATOR”!

New site design is up (well just general layout). In the next few weeks, I’ll be slowly tweaking it to handle some of the new features we’ll be introducing , refining / adding details to the layout, as well as fixing any stupid bugs (so post a comment if you find any! I’m already aware of a bunch).

Tonyz Tanti, all you get is a pint for this. Still made it in before the deadline after all!